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News from the NEA
Aging Creatively: A New Study Shows Results
Are older Americans who enjoy the arts better off than those who don’t?
The preliminary report of a 4-year study says they are. Initiated and funded in
part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the study, “Creativity and
Aging” is discovering that on-going, professionally conducted arts programming
(including music, poetry, painting, jewelry making, drama, and other artistic
pursuits) makes older adults happier and healthier.
Now into its fourth year, the study measures the mental and physical health, as well as the social activity of 300 older people at arts centers in Brooklyn, San Francisco, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Half of these groups are enrolled in community-based cultural programs on a weekly basis; the other half are not, serving as a comparison control group. Participants range in age from 65 to 99 years old and had to be living independently at the beginning of the study. Each year, participants receive a variety of tests, responding to questionnaires assessing their general health, mental health and social life.
According to study findings, participants who are actively involved in high-quality
arts programs reported better overall health, fewer doctor visits, a lower use
of medications, fewer falls, more energy, and increased involvement in social
activities in comparison to the non-arts control group. In addition, arts participants
reported lower levels of loneliness, higher morale, and better vision than their
counterparts.
Report Examines Arts Advocacy Arguments
Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Benefits of the Arts
is a new report from the RAND corporation, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation.
The authors of this report review and assess the strengths and weaknesses of arguments
made for the benefits that the arts provide. They call for a greater recognition
of the intrinsic benefits of the arts experience and more research on how the
nature of arts involvement is related to economic, educational and social benefits.
In particular, they underscore the importance of sustained involvement in the
arts to the achievement of both instrumental and intrinsic benefits.
A print copy is available from RAND for $20, or you can download it at
www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG218.pdf.
